Hello Beloved Readers,
We tree hugging lefty yuppies are mostly making noises of outrage tonight, about the fact that a "Peace Officer" shot a young black man and got off without a single charge (at the state level anyway). And then we, or let me just speak for myself since it's not like I was elected Representative of Liberal White Yuppies, *I* get to go quietly about my business, reasonably confident that no one is going to shoot my son when he does something that frightens them (like, say, buying Skittles and iced tea for his younger sibling). This is a privilege that should be a right. I have it. My darker skinned neighbors and fellow citizens do not.
This is not okay.
Can I give up my white privilege right now to make it fair? Not really. Would I if I could? Probably not. I'm too scared. I don't want to know what it's like to be watched like a hawk if I go into a store in sweatpants. I don't want to have to wonder if my mortgage application was turned down because of something about my appearance. I sure as hell don't want to have to wonder if my kids are going to get shot by someone that's supposed to be protecting them. I'd like to say I'm courageous and noble and I'd give it up in a heartbeat. But that's easy noise to make since I can't really do it.
What can I do? I can vote. I can hold an open heart and mind and not assume that I have totally expunged all ignorance or assumptions of privilege from my world view. I can educate other people who look like me, who maybe don't realize that they have privileges they didn't earn. I can lend out my white privilege, sort of - maybe offer to go with a friend when she applies for a mortgage or something. Shouldn't be necessary but hey if it helps, I'll do it.
I think the most effective thing I can do though is try to raise awareness amongst those who are as privileged as me and more so. I say most effective because I'm in a position to do it, I'm reasonably good at having these conversations, and I haven't been worn thin by decades of aggression and hostility that passes as normal zeitgeist pointed at me when I do something really unreasonable like go to school or try to get a job.
I spent a long time whining that people who have been swimming up this stream were cross with me when I did something totally ignorant. (I'd like to assert that it was never hateful but the effect can be essentially the same - I'm not sure this is really a useful point.) A lot of folks were really sweet and patient and brave with me and took the time to explain what was going on for the people who were cross with me. I'm grateful, now that I get it a teeny bit. So maybe that's what I can do, too - if someone wants to borrow me to go explain to another Europeanish person why what they just did was really a bit horrid, please do so. I'll do it if I can.
What can each of us do? What do our particular talents and situations lend themselves to? How can we make a world where my kids' classmates all have a really equal shot at a good life? Not a handout, just a fair chance.
Thank you for listening.
Love,
Suzi
